Treating sulfids or sulfates.



U. WEDGE. TREATING SULPIDS 0R SULFATES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 20, 1910.

Patented Nov. 22, 1910 L .L l

I li 'remaining after the urtnr wnnen, or ARDMORE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR IO-THE FURNACE rArEN'r coMrANY, or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION or PENNSYL- vANrA.

TREATING SULFIDS 0R SULFATES.

vases.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, UTLEY WEDGn',, 'a .cit1 zen of the United States, residing in" Ardmore, Pennsylvania, have inventedcertain Improvements in Treatin Sulfids or Sulfates, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to facilitate the elimination of sulfur in roasting sulfids or sulfates, such as those of zinc or nickel, an object which I attain in the manner hereinafter set forth, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, which represents, partly in" side elevation and-partly in vertical section, a furnace adapted for carrying out my invention.

In the roasting of sulfids or ores containing the same, the elimination of the sulfur sulfid has passed through the preliminary stages of the roasting process requires theemployment of an objectionably hi h temperature and even in such case the su fur is not completel eliminated and objectionable amounts 0 sulfur are likely to be left in the calcined or roasted material, owing to the formation of basic sulfates which are diflicult to roast. In .order to overcome this diflic'ulty, I combine with the material, after it has passed through the first stages of its treatment, in the roastin furnace, a reagent which will reduce the %asic sulfates, the elimination of the remaining sulfur contents down to the point desired being then readily effected without the employment of an objectionably high temperature during the latterpart of the treatment. 1 In the drawing, I have shown afurnace for carrying out my invention, this'furnace bein of the general type heretofore pat- "ented by me'but having certain additions whereby it is adapted for the carrying out of my present invention.

In the drawing, 1 represents the outer wall of the furnace, 2 a series of Sn erposed hearths and 3 a central hollow sha t carry ing radial arms 5, which roject into the working chambers of the urnace and are intended tocarry stirring and feeding blades or rabbles of any appro riate character (not shown) these feeding bfades or rabbles serving to mix the material lying upon the hearths of the furnace and to convey the same over said hearths from the inner to the outer or from the outer to the inner portions Specification of Letters Patent.-; Patented Nov, 22 1910 Application filed January 20, 1910. Serial No. 539,135.

of the same, the material being discharged from one hearth to another through openings 6 located alternately at the outer an inner ortions of the hearths.

Pre erably, the roof of thefurnace serves as a heating floor for the green ore or concentrate and the shaft 3 1s provided with any suitable feeding device whereby the ore is deposited upon the uppermost hearth of the furnace througha trapped or luted passage or passages, 1n order to prevent the es cape "of gas from the uppermost working chamber into the room or apartment in which the furnace is situated.

The furnace is divided'into two sections,

the upper section comprising, in the resent passage having below it a shelf 12 upon which the material flowing through the passage 6 is supported so as to back up into the isaid passage and close the same against gas flow, the material being removed from the shelf 12, at intervals, by means of scrapers 12 attached to the stirrer arms 5 in the upper working chamber of the lower section of the furnace, a fresh supply of material then flowing onto the shelf from the passage 6 to be removed in its turn, and so on, indefinitely. I

Between the arch of the uppermost working chamber of the lower section ofthe furnace and the hearth of the lowermost working chamber of the upper section of the furnace, I provide means for feeding into.said u per working chamber of the lower section 0 the furnace the desired supply of the reducing agent for admixture with the material which is being treated in said lower section. In the present instance, this feeding device comprises a tube 14 having, at its outer end, a feed hopper 15, and communicating, at its inner end, with said upper working chamber of the lower section of the furnace, the tube containing a. screw conveyer 16 or being provided with other means whereby material may be fed through the same.

The preferable reducing agentis carbonaceous material such ascoke breeze, tpulverized. coal, charcoal, pulverized coke from pe troleum",-or other form ofcarbonaceous matter or hydrocarbon.

. The major portion of the sulfur is elimiv nated from the sulfid by the treatment of the latter in the upper section of the furnace and when the metal combined with its remaining sulfur and other impurities is fed into the upper chamber of the lower section therein so'as to permit of the elimination of the remaining sulfur contents by the application of a' temperature approximating 1,20 0 F., as compared with a temperature of about 1,600 to -1,800 E, commonly requiredin the lower portion of the furnace as ordinarily operated.

When the products of combustion of the carbonaceous matter in the lower section of the furnace are prevented from gaining access to the upper section of the furnace by reason of the sealed communications between the two sections, a separate gas outlet is provided for the lower section of the furnace at 11, through which will escape both the products of combustion of said carbonaceous matter and such quantities of sulfur as may be eliminated from the compound in the lower portion of the furnace, the metallic oxid being delivered from the lowerchamber of the furnace in the usual Way.

By preference, the lower section of the furnaceis of the muffle type, the heating chambers 20 being supplied with products of combustion from a fire place 13 at one side of the. furnace and escaping therefrom through flues 13 at the opposite side.

The quantity of carbonaceous matter required for the decomposition of the basic sulfates is so small that its introduction still permits of the utilization of all of the sulfur gases leaving the furnace for the urpose of manufacturing sulfurousand sul uric acids, so that when the hearths of the lower section of the furnace are muflle fired, as shown in the drawing, the sulfurous gas escaping from said lower section may, if desired, be allowed to pass through the ore treating chambers of the upper section of the furnace and in any event t ey may be allowed so to pass in case it is not desired to'utilize said sulfurous gases. 1

Air for oxidizing purposes should be admitted to one or more of the treating chambers of the lower section of the furnace, as for instance, through suitably stoppered openings 21 in the walls of the furnace. I,

however, prefer to use, for this purpose,

preheated air and to effect the preheating of this air by passing it through one or more heating chambers interposed between the treating chambers of the upper section of thefurnace, one of said air heating chambersbeing illustrated at 22 in the drawlng and serving'not only to provide for the/desired preheating of the air but at the same time to abstract surplus heat from the treating chambers in the upper portion of the furnace and thereby maintain a relatively low temperature therein, and prevent the overheating of the ore.

The heating chamber 22' communicates with a flue 23 (or any number of such flues) located in the walls of the furnace said flue (or each of said flues) communicating through suitable stoppered or dam peredopcnings 17 with such of the treating chambers of the lower section of the furnace as may be desired. Preferably, also, the flue 23 communicates, through properly stoppered or dampered openings 19, with. one or more of the heating. chambers 20 so as to admit supplies of heated air thereto for the purpose of facilitating or improving the combustion of the heating gases therein.

I claim:

1'. In the process of desulfurizing, by roasting, ores containing sulfids or sulfates, the mode herein described of facilitating the removal of the sulfur during the later stage of the process, said mode consisting in adding to the metal-bearing material a reagent .whereby any sulfates which may be present will be reduced and the elimination of the sulfur effected without the appllcation of an objectionably high degree of heat.

2. 1n the process of desulfurizing, by roasting, ores containing sulfids or sulfates, the mode herein described of facilitating the removal of the sulfur during the later stage of the process, said mode consisting in heating the metal-bearing material during this stage of the process without direct access of the. heating gases thereto, and adding to said metal-bearing material a reagent whereby any sulfates which may be present will be reducedand the elimination of the sulfur effected without the application of an objectionably high degree of heat. a

3. In the process of desulfurizing, by roasting, ores containing sulfids or sulfates, the mode herein described of facilitating the removal of the sulfur during the later stage ofthe process, said mode consisting in adding to the metal-bearing material a reagent whereby any sulfates which may be present will be reduced and the elimination of the sulfur effected without the application of an objectionably highdegree 0 heat, and also introducing preheated air for oxidizing purv poses.

4. In the process of desulfurizing, by roasting, ores containingsulfids or sulfates, the mode herein described which consists in maintaining a relatively low temperature during the early stage of the process by the abstraction of heat for air-heating purposes, adding to the metal-bearing material, during the later stage of the process, a reagent 40 maintaining. a'" relativel whereby any sulfates which may be present will be reduced. and the elimination of the sulfur effected, and, at the same time, using, in said la-ter stage of the process, for oxidizing purposes, the air preheated in the earlierstage of the process.

5. In the process of desulfurizing, by roasting, ores containing sulfids oi" sulfates, the mode herein described of facilitating the removal of the sulfur during the laterst-a-ge of the process, said mode consisting in heating the metal-bearing material during the later stage ofthe process without direct access of the heatinggases thereto, adding to said material during said later stage of the process, a reagent whereby any sulfates which may be present will be reduced and the elimination of the sulfur effected, and also introducing preheated air for oxidizing purposes in the later stage of. the process.

6. In the process of desulfuri zing, by roasting, 'ores containing sulfids or "sulfates, the mode herein described of facilitating the removal of the sulfur during the later stage of the process, said mode consisting in heat-' ing the metal-bearing material during the later stage of the process without direct access of the heating gases thereto, adding to said materialduring said later stage of the process, a reagent whereby any sulfates which may be present will be reduced and the elimination ofthe sulfur effected, and also introducing preheat ed air for. oxidizing purposes and for facilitating the combustion of'the heating gases in the later'stage of the '5 access of the heating gases thereto, adding to said material a reagent whereby any sulfates which maybe present will be reduced and the eliminationv of the sulfur effected, and also introducing the air preheated in the earlier stage of the process for oxidizing of the process.

purposes in the later stagedl If b esu urizing, y

8. In the process 0 roasting, ores containing sulfids .or sulfates,

the mode herein described'which consists in maintaining a relatively low temperature heating the metal-bearing material during the later stage of the process without direct o access of the heatinggases thereto, adding to said material a reagent whereby any sulfates which may be present will be reduced and the elimination of the sulfur effected,

and'also introducing the air preheated in 5 the earlier Stage of the process for oxidizl oxidizing purposes, and discharging the ing purposes and for facilitating the combustion of the heating gases in the later stage of the process.

9. In the process of desulfurizing, by roasting, ores containing sulfids or sulfates,

the mode herein described of facilitating the.

removal of the sulfur during. the later stage of the process, said mode consisting in adding to the metal-bearing material a reagent whereby any sulfates which may be present will be reduced and the elimination of the sulfur effected Withoutthe application of an objectionably high degree of heat, and

discharging. the gases developed during the laterstage of the process independently of those developed during the earlier stage of the process.

, 10. In the roasting, ores containing sulfids or sulfates, the mode herein described of facilitating-the removal'of the sulfur during the later stage of the process, said mode consisting in heating the metal-bearing material during the later stage of the process without direct access-of the heating gases thereto, adding to said metal-bearing material a reagent whereby' any sulfates which may be present will be reduced and the elimination of the sulfur effected Without the application of an ob- ]ectionably high degree of heat, and discharging the gases developed during the later stage of the process independently of those developed during the earlier stage of the process.

11. In the process of desulfurizing, by

roasting, ores containing sulfids or sulfates,

process of desulfurizing, by

the mode herein described of facilitating the U removal of the sulfur during the later stage of the process, said mode consisting in adding to the metal-bearing material during the later stage of the process a reagent whereb sulfates which may be present will be an rediicedandthe elimination of the sulfur H effected without the applicati0n 0f an objectionably high degree of heat and also in troducing, during the later stage of the process, preheated air for oxidizing purposes, and discharging the gases developed during the later stage of the process independently of those developed during the earlier stage of the process.

12. In the process of desulfurizing, by roasting, ores containing sulfids or sulfates, the mode herein described of facilitating the removal of the sulfur during the later stage of the process, said mode consisting in heating the metal-bearing material during the later stage of the process without direct access of the heating gases thereto, adding to said metal-bearing material. during the later stage of the process a reagent whereby any sulfates which may be present will be reduced and theelimination of the sulfur effected, also introducing preheated air for ,during the early stage of the process by the abstraction of heat for air heating purposes, adding to the metal-bearing material during the later stage of the process a reagent whereby any sulfates which may be present will be reduced and the elimination of the sulfur effected' using in the later stage of i the process, for oxidlzing purposes, the air preheated in the earlier stage of the process, and discharging the gases developed during the later stage of the process independently of :those/deve'loped during the earlier stage of the process.

14. In the process of desulfurizing, by roasting, ores containmgsulfids or sulfates, the mode here1n descr1bed,'wh1ch consists in maintaining a relatively low temperature during the early stage of the process by the abstraction of heat for air heating purposes, heating the metal-bearing material during the later stage of the process without direct access of the heating'gases thereto, adding to said material a reagent whereby any sulfates which maybe present .Will be reduced and the elimination of the sulfur effected, introducing the air preheated in the earlier stageof the process for oxidizing purposes, and discharging the gases developed during the later'stage of the process independently of those developed. during the earlier stage of the process.

15. In the process of desulfurizing, by

roasting, ores containing sulfids or sulfates,

the mode herein described, which consists in maintaining a relatively low temperature during the early stage of the process by the abstraction of heat for air heatin purposes, heating the metal-bearing material during the later stage of the process without direct access of the heating gases thereto, adding to said material a reagent whereby any sulfates which may be present will be reduced and theelimination of the sulfur effected, introducing the air preheated in the earlier stage of the process for oxidizing pur oses and for facilitating the combustion o the heating gases in the later stage of the process, and discharging the gases developed during the later stage of the process independently ,of those developed during theearlier stage of the process.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

UTLEY WEDGE. 

